A former Democratic mayor has been charged with nearly a dozen felonies relating to sexually assaulting minors, Fox News reported.
Robert Jacob, the former mayor of Sebastopol, California, and a cannabis business owner was arrested by police April 10, a Sebastopol Police Department statement read. Initially, police arrested Jacob on five felonies and one misdemeanor sexual assault charge against a minor, as the statement noted. However, the number of felony charges was increased to 11 Tuesday when Jacob appeared in front of the Sonoma County Superior Court, according to Fox News.
Saturday morning, Sebastopol police arrested ex-mayor Robert Jacob on “suspicion of sexual assault” against a teenager — who at the time of the incident was either 14 or 15 years old — as well as in connection to other sex crimes concerning minors. https://t.co/GovUt7OZzz
— SFist (@SFist) April 11, 2021
As it stands now, Jacob is charged with distribution of child pornography, committing lewd acts with a child ages 14 to 15, participating in sexual penetration of a child under 16, making a child under 16 available to another person for lewd or lascivious acts, Fox News reported. (RELATED: Dance Teacher Arrested For Allegedly Raping 13-Year-Old Student)
Authorities said they started the investigation on March 30 in the wake of receiving a tip about possible sexual assaults that occurred in the area between December 2019 and March 2021. The 44-year-old Jacob was identified as a possible suspect in the investigation, eventually leading to his arrest, according to Fox News. Because the investigation is still underway, Sebastopol Police Chief Kevin Kilgore did not elaborate on how Jacob was connected to the victim or provide details on Jacob’s alleged crimes, Fox News reported.
Jacob was elected to the Sebastopol City Council in 2012, and then rose to the mayor’s office the year after, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. After serving one four-year term as mayor, Jacob did not seek reelection.
Jacob is represented by Santa Rosa attorney Chris Andrian, Fox News reported. He is currently being held in the Sonoma County Detention Facility without bail.